A great victory in the peaceful competition with capitalism

(The following editorial appeared in the October 9, 1957, edition of Pravda and has been translated and condensed from the Russian.)

The first artificial Earth satellite in the world, created by Soviet scientists, engineers and workers, is making its flight around our planet. On the morning of October 9 it passed over Tunis, two minutes later it flew over Rome, four minutes later over Moscow, and 18 minutes later it flashed over Tokyo and flew in the direction of Western Europe. The prominent scientists of today are speaking of the arrival of a new era, of that period in the history of civilization when a gigantic step forward has been made in the conquest of interplanetary space. Herein lies the historic significance of the Soviet discovery.

Today the entire population of the Earth sees the great victory of our Soviet science and technology, our highly developed industry, our technical might, which the great Soviet people created under the leadership of the Communist Party year after year during the five-year plans, in accordance with a strict scientific plan, consistently carrying out Lenin's general line in building socialism. The launching of the artificial Earth satellite is a victory of Soviet man who, with Bolshevist boldness and clearness of purpose, determination and energy, knows how to march forward. This is a victory of collective labor, which alone is capable of creating real wonders in the world.

It has again been proved convincingly and vividly that the Soviet socialist system is the best form for the organization of human labor which is free of the shackles of exploitation. In its own way the capitalist press is also forced to acknowledge the superiority of the socialist system. The New York Journal-American, analyzing the state of work on the creation of the artificial Earth satellite in the United States, bitterly refers to the "squabble among the different branches of the armed forces which has delayed our development." The squabble among the different branches of the armed forces in the United States is only a facade which conceals the struggle among powerful monopolies -- steel kings who advocate the priority construction of warships at any price and magnates of the aluminum industry who are trying to push the Navy into second place and obtain orders for building aircraft.

The world of selfishness and profits, with its boasted "freedom of enterprise," puts obstacles in the path of the development of production forces. In Soviet society there are no such obstacles. That is why the New York Herald Tribune had to conclude: "Our country has suffered a defeat in the epic competition of the 20th century." Without boasting, without the clamor and advertisements characteristic of capitalism, the Soviet people, led by the Communist Party, are working out grandiose plans and carrying them out. They are building, inventing and astonishing the world with their creative, inspired labor. Lately, many false tales have been invented in the West regarding the fate of scientists, technicians, inventors and innovators in the land of the Soviet Union. Do you, gentlemen, want to know the fate of scientists, innovators and inventors in the land of the Soviets? Then watch the flight of the Earth satellite!

In our times scientific and technical progress has become a major component of the peaceful competition of two systems. The new, socialist world has a powerful technology, is creating a new technology of its own and is steadfastly marching along the path of progress. We are not afraid of peaceful competition with capitalism and willingly accept it. Major political conclusions must be drawn from the new victory of the Soviet Union in this competition. One must discard all the assertions which reactionary circles in the West, contrary to the logic of life, are indulging in. These circles are trying to reduce the peaceful competition between the two systems in the field of technical progress to an armaments race. The American newspaper Daily News states, for instance, that "the launching of the artificial Earth satellite by the Russians means that Congress -- if not the government -- will demand more rapid implementation of the various programs of the Pentagon (U.S. Defense Department.)"

However, is it not time for American ruling circles to emerge from the vicious circle which they themselves created? After all, they began the arms race by proclaiming their monopoly of atomic armaments. But their calculations failed. They continued the armaments race, shouting about the U.S. monopoly of the hydrogen bomb. Again their calculations failed. They rejected the Soviet proposals on disarmament and boasted about their rocket weapons. Again they suffered defeat when the U.S.S.R. created the intercontinental ballistics rocket. Are these examples not enough? Is it not time to evaluate the facts of present-day life more sensibly and soberly? The New York Times now complains that U.S. policy has been known to have an "undeviating tendency to underestimate Soviet potentialities." The paper urges abandonment of the "traditional, stereotyped view of the United States and the West that the majority of Russians are ignorant and illiterate peasants." The time has come to end this stupid fable. Apparently someone in the United States, blinded by hatred of communism, has overlooked the Great October Socialist Revolution, has failed to note the 40 years' experience of victorious socialist construction in the land of Soviets, the vigorous development of its economy, science and culture. Now in the United States, too, certain sober voices are warning that blindness should not be permitted to be a factor in world policy.

The road to the development of present-day international relations is clear. It is the peaceful coexistence of two different systems, their peaceful competition in the field of economics, science and technology. The Soviet Union and all the countries in the socialist camp have proposed that the capitalist camp choose just this path. And the best propagandist for this path is the Soviet artificial Earth satellite which revolves around our planet on which the socialist and capitalist countries are situated.